


bar brawls

by spookykingdomstarlight



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Finn is a Defecting Imperial Stormtrooper, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-06 03:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12808419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookykingdomstarlight/pseuds/spookykingdomstarlight
Summary: “You a defector, Finn? Or just passing through?”





	bar brawls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheKinkAwakens (thekinkawakens)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekinkawakens/gifts).



You could always find trouble in Maz’s castle. That was half the reason Lando liked the place so much, in fact. There wasn’t anything that wasn’t interesting about the place. And equal opportunity interesting, too. You could find smugglers and do-gooders, Imperials and Rebels, nice folks and the worst the galaxy had to offer here. And they all played by Maz’s rules.

Mostly.

But sometimes, you got a new face in the place that just asked for people to pay attention. Usually, this was a fine enough thing. All look, but no touch.

And sometimes, you got a new face and a troublemaker who just happened to want to test Maz’s control and so wanted to sharpen their claws on the easiest target. The easiest target today happened to be New Face and unfortunately for him, Maz wasn’t around to referee. Troublemaker chose well or got lucky and as he approached New Face, Lando—and just about everybody in the immediate vicinity—knew trouble was brewing.

Sighing, Lando downed what was left of his drink. He wouldn’t be doing Maz any good here, and he was at least as likely to get his own ass kicked out as he was of earning a much-coveted favor out of her, but he felt for the guy. Even odds were he’d just stepped off a transport from the middle of kriffing nowhere and would soon be heading to another middle of nowhere. He didn’t deserve whatever harassment Troublemaker was going to throw at him in the meantime. From the haunted, hunted, determined look in his dark eyes, Lando could at least conclude he wouldn’t go down without a fight.

That favor was looking less and less likely.

But Lando committed to things when he could. Living the life he led didn’t allow for much of it and none came naturally to him, but, well. Lando hated stagnation. And there was only so far pure, selfish smuggling could get a person.

Beating Troublemaker by thirty seconds at the most, he grabbed hold of New Face’s surprisingly sturdy arm and leaned in close. The man tensed, his reflexes quick and honed. His head snapped in Lando’s direction and not only were his eyes very pretty, they were very, very aware of what was going on around him. Which, in some ways, made it easy. Because when Lando said, “Follow my lead,” he merely nodded, gaze flicking over to the direction from which Troublemaker was approaching.

Stretching halfway across the bar, Lando snapped his fingers at the bartender and pointed at a bottle that sat just behind the counter. He grabbed it around the neck and lifted it, sloshing the liquid inside back and forth. The bartender nodded and, smiling, Lando flicked an extra credit chit in the bartender’s direction. Good people, the bartenders here. The other half of the reason Lando so liked the place: they understood people like Lando.

He took hold of the glass New Face had been using and poured generously from the bottle. “I hope you like bottom-shelf whiskey,” he said to his new friend. He handed the glass to him. “Here you go.”

He turned and grinned, bracing himself for Troublemaker’s arrival. His grip tightened on the bottle. He didn’t relish the thought of ruining this outfit, but he would if he had to.

He was just glad that despite the hungry look in Troublemaker’s eye, he wasn’t all that big. In fact, Lando could probably have taken him in a pure fight unless he was a trained fighter and he did not have that look about him. A laborer from some planet or another on leave and looking for a belligerently good time. Lando had faced worse.

But even so, he’d rather get out of this with as much of his dignity intact as possible. He’d been barred from more than a few cantinas in his time and he didn’t want this one to be added to the list. “Hey, there, friend,” Lando said. “What do you say I buy you a drink?”

“What do you say you kriff off, huh?” the man replied.

Not the most elegant of answers, but Lando could appreciate the frankness of it. “You know the rules here,” he said. There was no way in any number of hells that might have existed that this would work, but it was worth a shot. “No picking on the new guy. No picking on anybody. We don’t start fights in Maz’s castle.”

Troublemaker, now more angry than before if it was possible, shoved at Lando. “That ain’t a new guy,” he said. “I know that son of a lothcat. He’s no good.” Though his voice had been loud before, it lowered now. “Imperial scum.”

Now that was interesting. Interesting and not any of Lando’s business. he probably should have stepped aside. If it was true, Lando didn’t need to get caught up in this. But he had a hell of a hard time believing New Guy had anything to do with the Empire. But before he could make a decision based on this information, New Guy was pushing forward and shoved at Troublemaker from behind Lando’s shoulder. The bottle fell from his hand and shattered on the floor near his feet. “Whoa, there,” he said, loud enough to be heard over the arguments New Guy started making, obvious stuff like _you don’t know a thing about me_ and _who in the hell do you think you are_. Uninspired, it definitely wasn’t going to make Troublemaker think he was wrong. “You’re mistaken. I’ve known this man for years. He’s no Imperial, I can assure you.”

That shut both New Guy and Troublemaker up, gave Lando enough time to pull out a third credit chit and lay it on the counter as he pointedly eyed Troublemaker. _Here’s your chance_ , he didn’t say out loud. He didn’t need to. Troublemaker would know what it meant and he’d either stand down or he wouldn’t.

Lando couldn’t quite tell which way he’d jump. Unusual for him. Generally, he could tell exactly what a person would do.

Perhaps, in that case, it shouldn’t have surprised him when the guy threw a punch that only didn’t land because New Face pulled him out of the way and pushed him toward the door. “Good try,” he said, over the sudden shouts that permeated throughout the room as Troublemaker fell into an innocent bystander who proceeded to throw out his innocence to join in. Lando turned just long enough to see Troublemaker’s new friend shove him back and laugh. “I appreciate it.”

So much for Maz’s law and order.

She’d kill him if she ever found out he was responsible.

Still low and out of everyone’s notice, he said, “Let’s get out of here, huh?”

“Good plan,” New Face said, a bit more serious than the situation probably warranted. He was really going to have to get a name out of this guy. He was too cute to be known forever as New Face in Lando’s mind, and too interesting, too.

But after. By the time they reached the door, there was a full-on brawl happening and no one much cared about a swindler and whoever the hell New Face turned out to be sneaking out the front. Even the guards, who were normally a little more diligent, had too much on their plates. Risking one final glance back, Lando shouted out a laugh. Couldn’t help it. Nothing quite this interesting happened to him usually. “You got a name, New Face?”

“New Face?” the man replied, scrunching his nose. They pushed forward through Takodana’s lush green forests toward Lando’s ship. “Was I that obvious?”

“Little bit,” Lando said, cheerful. Clapping him on the shoulder, he added, “In case you didn’t notice. So what is it?”

“What’s what?”

“Your name?”

“Eff enn,” he replied, which was a strange name. Then, FN cleared his throat and said, “Finn. I’m Finn.”

“Finn,” Lando said, dubious. Maybe Troublemaker was right about him being an Imperial. FN sounded like a stormtrooper designation. If that was true…

Lando was definitely interested in just what the hell he was doing in Maz’s castle. “You a defector, Finn? Or just passing through?”

“I can’t be both?” he asked, which was an even more curious reply than Lando was expecting. Pretty much ruled out a fully committed Imperial though. So Lando was willing to bet this was a defector. That happened sometimes. Not around Lando generally. The kind of people who defected tended to hop ship and immediately throw themselves at the Rebels. And Rebels, unless they were Partisans, tended not to like the kind of people Lando spent time with.

“Just wanted to know who I’m talking to.” Lando raised his hands. “I’ve got no beef with the Empire. They let me go about my business and I stay out of theirs. It’s worked for me so far.” Lando swallowed. It wasn’t quite that simple, but nothing ever was. “Whatever the case with you is, I’d say you owe me a drink.”

Finn smiled, possibly relieved or possibly amused or both. “I’d say I owe you more than that. You almost took a punch for me.”

Lando grinned, the charming one, the one that usually got him his way into and out of all sorts of trouble. “I wouldn’t say no to dinner and I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.”

“It’s a deal,” he answered, quick, like he could’t quite believe his luck. That, more than anything, told Lando he was doing the right thing.

And though Lando didn’t know a damned thing about this guy that he didn’t guess for himself, he invited him onto his ship, got him off-planet and away from Troublemaker. Finn might even have sprung for that dinner Lando asked for.

Later, when they became partners, both in business and even more personally, Lando would admit he’d have gladly taken that punch knowing where it would get him. He’d even admit it was worth getting banned from Maz’s in perpetuity.

Finn, in turn, would just laugh and say Troublemaker never would have been able to land that punch in the first place if Lando hadn’t stepped in.

But that didn’t make him the least bit unappreciative of the effort all the same.


End file.
